1. Spell Summary

This will cover synergies, cooldowns, and core concepts of the spec to get
it working. If you already have experience and are very comfortable
with Marksmanship, it is okay to skip past this, otherwise this is a great
point to get a base understanding before moving onto later sections of the
guide that covers nuances of gameplay.

2. Main Resource of Marksmanship Hunter

Hunters and their pets use a unique resource, called Focus. Focus works
in much the same way as other class resources, like Rage and Energy, in
the sense that some abilities grant Focus, while others cost Focus to be
used.

A Marksmanship Hunter's Focus has a maximum capacity of 100,
and regenerates at a slow rate that varies by spec. In addition to this
passive flow of incoming Focus, certain talents and abilities will amplify
your Focus regeneration, or simply generate more of it.

Most of the abilities in the hunter rotation cost Focus to use, and some
talents decrease the Focus costs, or offer other ways to gain additional
Focus.

Hunter pet Focus works similarly, and is of no concern to you as you cannot
do anything to modify it, nor will you be casting pet abilities manually.

As a general rule, you should always have enough Focus to cast
your abilities as soon as they come off cooldown, but also to never have
100 Focus (as any extra Focus you generate would then go to
waste).

3. Basic Abilities of Marksmanship Hunter

Arcane Shot is a Focus dump without a cooldown that costs 15
Focus. It is primarily a filler ability for when you have too much Focus or
want to spend some. Arcane Shot is also affected by proc mechanics such as
Precise Shots, which is procced by Aimed Shot. These procs are spent
by casting Arcane Shot and are a big part of the rotation.

Aimed Shot is your primary damage ability. It has 2 charges on
a 12-second cooldown, a 2.5-second cast time and it costs 30 Focus.
It cannot be cast while moving. When you cast it, it procs
Precise Shots which buffs your Arcane Shot.

Rapid Fire is a high-damage Focus generator. It is a
channelled cast that takes 3 seconds and generates 10 Focus in the process.
It has a 20-second cooldown. Using this on cooldown is a big part of
maximizing your damage.

Steady Shot is your low-damage Focus generator. It has a
1.5-second cast time and it generates 10 Focus. It can be cast while moving
and it is cast when there is nothing else to do in the rotation.

4. Movement Tools

Disengage is your primary mobility ability. It causes you to
leap backwards on a 20-second cooldown at no cost. Certain talents like
Posthaste amplify this ability, causing it to give you increased
movement speed for a few seconds. You can use this to quickly go from one place
to another — even in a forwards direction by jumping, turning around and
casting Disengage to catapult you forwards instead of backwards.

Aspect of the Cheetah is your second mobility ability, acting as
more of a cooldown. It increases your movement speed by 90% for 3 seconds, and
then by 30% for another 9 seconds, on a 3-minute cooldown. Note it does not
stack with Posthaste, so you should make sure to use
Disengage and Aspect of the Cheetah separately for movement.

5. Important Procs and Passives of Marksmanship Hunter

Trick Shots is a new AoE mechanic that is the basis of
Marksmanship's AoE. When you cast Multi-Shot on 3
targets or above, your next Aimed Shot or Rapid Fire
will cleave up to 5 additional targets for 50% of normal damage. It does not
generate additional Focus from hitting the additional targets.

6. Offensive Cooldowns of Marksmanship Hunter

7. Additional Utility & Traps of Marksmanship Hunter

Counter Shot interrupts your target's spell casting. It also
prevents any other cast in that school from being started for 3 seconds. It
has a 24-second cooldown.

Aspect of the Turtle is the Hunter's primary defensive. It is an
8-second immune (from most abilities) and 30% damage reduction that makes you
unable to attack for its duration. It has a 3-minute cooldown.

Bursting Shot is a short-term crowd control ability. It knocks
back all enemies immediately in front of you, interrupting spellcasting and
snaring them for 4 seconds. The disorient breaks on damage. It has a
30-second cooldown and costs 10 Focus.

Exhilaration is the Hunter's self heal. It
heals you for 30% of your total health, and your pet for its full health on a
2-minute cooldown.

Freezing Trap is a long-term crowd control for all Hunter specs.
It places a trap on the ground that encases the first enemy (not bosses or most
big encounter adds) to touch it in ice for 1 minute. The effect breaks on
damage. The trap has a 30-second cooldown, and the trap will exist for 1
minute after placing it.

Tar Trap is an AoE slow for all Hunter specs. It places a trap on
the ground that causes a patch of tar to appear on the ground in an 8 yard
radius around it when it is triggered, slowing all enemies in it by 50% for as
long as they are in it. The patch of tar persists for 30 seconds, and the
trap itself will exist for up to 1 minute before being triggered.

Flare places a flare on the ground that reveals stealthed
players and mobs nearby. It lasts for 20 seconds, and has a 20-second
cooldown.

Feign Death lets you pretend to be dead, dropping all
threat/aggro on all enemies. When not in raid or dungeon encounters, it is a
quick way to drop you from combat. In raids and dungeons, it can help you
survive a wipe by using it when everyone else is about to die.

Misdirection causes you to redirect all the threat you do to a
friendly target for the next 8 seconds. It has a 30-second cooldown. It is very
useful for aiding your tank in picking up enemies that are spread far apart,
such as wide-scale dungeon trash pulls. Note that this only applies to threat
you personally generate, not that of your pet(s).

8. Pet Specializations

There are 3 different pet specializations. These specializations
are determined by your pet family and they cannot be changed. We recommend
having a variety of pets of each spec, so that you can cover any situation.

Pet Spec

Passive Effect

Active Ability

Ferocity

Predator's Thirst gives you and your pet 10% Leech.
Leech heals you based on how much damage you do.

Primal Rage, which provides the Bloodlust/
Heroism effect, increasing Haste for you and all nearby allies
by 30% for 40 seconds. This shares cooldown with Bloodlust/Heroism
and similar effects.

Master's Call removes all movement-impairing effects from
your pet and a friendly target, and makes them immune to movement-impairing
effects for 4 seconds. The friendly target can be you. It has a 45-second
cooldown.

9. Pet Families and Abilities

Every Pet Family has a special ability. We recommend having at least one
of every special ability and spec combination.

9.1. Ferocity Pets

Special Ability

Description

Pet Families

Damage Reduction Cooldown

Reduces the damage taken of your pet by 50% for 12 seconds.
This has a 1-minute cooldown.

Core Hound (Exotic), Scalehide.

Dispel Enrage/Magic

Removes 1 Enrage and 1 Magic effect from your pet's target.
This has a 10-second cooldown.

Bat, Nether Ray.

Healing Reduction

Reduces the healing taken of your pet's target by 25% for 10 seconds.
This has a 6-second cooldown, which means that it will be active all the
time.

This ability increases your pet's Dodge chance by 30% for 20 seconds.
It has a 1.5-minute cooldown.

Fox, Monkey, Serpent.

Slow/Snare

Reduces the movement speed of your pet's target by 50% for 6 seconds.
It has a 10-second cooldown.

Basilisk, Bird of Prey, Dog, Warp Stalker, Silithid (Exotic).

* Water Strider pets also have Surface Trot, a passive ability
that lets you and your pet walk on water while out of combat. Damage will
break this effect.

9.4. Exotic Pets (Beast Mastery-only)

Pet Family

Specialization

Special Ability

Exotic Ability

Core Hound

Ferocity

Obsidian Skin reduces your pet's damage taken by 50% for 12
seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown.

Molten Hide causes your pet to gain Molten Hide when it gets
hit by a melee attack, causing it to deal slight Fire damage to all further
melee attackers for 10 seconds. It can only activate every 60 seconds.

Chimaera

Ferocity

Frost Breath reduces the movement speed of your pet's target
by 50% for 6 seconds. It has a 10-second cooldown.

Froststorm Breath is an 8-second channeled ability for your
pet that deals AoE damage to all enemies within 12 yards every 2 seconds.
It costs 10 Focus to activate, and then 5 Focus per second to
maintain.

Devilsaur

Ferocity

Monstrous Bite reduces the healing taken of your pet's
target by 25%. It lasts 10 seconds and has a 6-second cooldown, meaning it
is up all the time.

Feast lets you order your pet to consume a nearby Humanoid
or Beast corpse within 5 yards, healing your pet for 20% of its maximum
health, and restoring 20 Focus over 6 seconds.

Clefthoof

Ferocity

Thick Hide gives your pet a 60% damage reduction for 15
seconds when it falls below 40% health. This can only occur once every 2
minutes.

Blood of the Rhino is a passive effect that increases your
pet's armor by 10%, and increases the effectiveness of all healing done to
it by 20%.

Quilen

Tenacity

Stone Armor buffs your pet when it falls below 40% health,
reducing its damage taken by 40% and healing it for 3% of its maximum
health every 1 second for 15 seconds. This effect can only occur every 2
minutes.

Eternal Guardian is an instant resurrection for your pet.
If your pet has died, you can use it to instantly revive it with 100% of
its health. It has an 8-minute cooldown.

Spirit Mend heals a friendly target for a small amount
instantly, and applies a small healing DoT for 10 seconds. It costs 5 pet
Focus. It can be cast on yourself as well. Spirit Beasts also have the
Prowl stealth ability, like Cats.

Worm

Tenacity

Acid Spit reduces the movement speed of your pet's target
by 50% for 6 seconds. It has a 10-second cooldown.

Burrow Attack is an 8-second channeled ability for your pet
that deals AoE damage to all enemies within 12 yards every 2 seconds. It
costs 10 Focus to activate, and then 5 Focus per second to maintain.

Krolusk

Tenacity

Bulwark reduces your pet's damage taken by 50% for 12
seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown.

Calcified Carapace passively reduces your pet's Physical
damage taken by approximately 10%. The proper spell data is not in the game
for this ability yet.

Shale Spider

Cunning

Solid Shell reduces your pet's damage taken by 50% for 12
seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown.

Shimmering Shale passively reduces your pet's magic damage
taken by approximately 10%. The proper spell data is not in the game for
this ability yet.

Silithid

Cunning

Tendon Rip reduces the movement speed of your pet's target
by 50% for 6 seconds. It has a 10-second cooldown.

BfA Guides

This guide has been written by Azortharion,
a theorycrafter of all things Hunter-related for many years. He is an accomplished player
with dozen of top parses for all specs throughout the game's history. He is
also the Admin of Trueshot
Lodge, the Hunter Class Discord, and you can watch his stream on Twitch.